Paul Stanley received his second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine earlier today (Tuesday, February 16).

The 69-year-old KISS frontman took to his Twitter to share that he got the final dose of the vaccine. He posted a photo of him holding his COVID-19 Vaccination Record Card, and he wrote in an accompanying message: "I got my SECOND COVID SHOT this morning! So grateful and THRILLED. PLEASE, let's ALL stay safe as possible and continue to watch out for each other."

A recent Kaiser Family Foundation poll showed almost a third of U.S. adults are undecided on whether they'll get the COVID-19 vaccine.

The poll, released last Friday, found that 31 percent of adults are going to "wait until it has been available for a while to see how it is working for other people" before receiving the coronavirus vaccine.

America's two main vaccines have shown 95% efficacy against the coronavirus.

As of late January, the CDC discovered that only 11 per 1 million people experienced severe reactions from the Pfizer vaccine, and only 2.5 per 1 million people who received the Moderna dose.

In recent months, Stanley repeatedly slammed people who refuse to wear a mask in public spaces to protect others from possible coronavirus infection. In December, the KISS frontman took to his Twitter to write: "Frankly, I've had enough of the self-serving & politically motivated mask misinformation & BS about this pandemic. I don't want to hear about 'my freedom' & 'my rights' that then infringe on so many other's. Those 'rights' & choosing to gather at Thanksgiving got us here. Wake up".

Three months earlier, he took to his Twitter to share a CNN article about an Idaho pastor who was hospitalized with COVID-19 after calling himself a "no-masker" during a service and repeatedly questioning the veracity of coronavirus case reporting. Stanley added in a message: "YOU figure this one out. I can't. A hoax and non-existent virus has put this guy in the ICU. If you're so concerned with a loss of your freedom , Why do you stop at red lights? Don't let the government control you!! Drive right through!!! PUT YOUR MASK ON."

In early July, Stanley shared a photo of him and his then-eight-year-old daughter Emily wearing masks, and he included the following message: "Sunset at the beach with Emily. WEAR YOUR MASK! Don't listen to conspiracy theorists or graduates of The Internet University Of Medicine. While the credible authorities and experts continue to learn more about Covid 19 they remain in agreement about safety protocols. End of story".

Two months ago, Stanley's KISS bandmate Gene Simmons also criticized ongoing complaints about having to wear masks in the middle of a deadly pandemic, telling the "Jeremy White Podcast": "Believe what you want, but don't hang out around me. Okay? If you're a denier, stay in the shadows. I don't wanna be around you. 'Cause I don't wanna catch what you've got. It's not about you. It's not whether you believe it or not."




I got my SECOND COVID SHOT this morning! So grateful and THRILLED. PLEASE, let's ALL stay safe as possible and continue to watch out for each other. pic.twitter.com/pT3mZQGfPD

— Paul Stanley (@PaulStanleyLive) February 16, 2021

During an appearance on today's (Monday, February 15) episode of SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" show, BLACK SABBATH's touring drummer Tommy Clufetos was asked why he did not record the drum tracks on the band's final album, 2013's "13", on which the drums were played by Brad Wilk of RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE. "That's show business," he said. "That's all you can say. Not everything works out, but in the end, it works out. I'm glad I got to do the tours, and I think I made a good dent, and I was very proud of what I did on stage with those guys. I can't think about what I didn't do. They made a great record, they had a Number One record, and you can't argue with that either. So there you go."

Asked if ever had any pinch-me, "holy shit" moments while performing with BLACK SABBATH during "The End" tour, Tommy said: "Yes and no. Meaning, the best thing about playing with those guys, it's not that it was BLACK SABBATH, it's that all three of those guys, they may have their differences, but when they go on stage, they are a hundred and ten percent into being a group together, more so than anybody I've ever played with. It's a unit up there — that's what makes them so great. Tony [Iommi, guitar] may lead a certain part of the set somewhere, or a song, Geezer [Butler, bass] may lead a part, and this guy may step back, and that guy may step forward. And they're backstage getting ready for the show. They're not worried about Instagram or meeting people. Everybody on that stage, myself included, was a hundred and ten percent. That's what made it so great. On top of that, playing amazing, legendary, iconic music with the guys who wrote it and created it was undeniably awesome, and it was a privilege, and it made me a better musician playing with those three guys together. And that was an honor — more so than it being BLACK SABBATH, if that makes sense, because that's a special thing, that's a rarity, and that's what makes them BLACK SABBATH."

He added: "You can't have a career that all of these guys have had — it's no mistake for any of them, why they're still successful and people wanna hear their music. It's no mistake why Ozzy [Osbourne, vocals] is still successful. It's 'cause he's awesome. Tony is awesome, [and] Geezer is awesome."

Back in 2013, Ozzy told Billboard that the way Clufetos's exclusion from the "13" album was dealt with "wasn't very fair on Tommy. [Producer] Rick Rubin just didn't want to work with him for reasons I don't know," Osbourne said. "He's a great drummer, and he's been with me for awhile now and I just felt that nobody discussed the decision about Brad to me, and it's not fair to Tommy. Tommy was promised the album... It's not because he was my drummer and my ego wanted him. It was just the fact the way it was dealt with. It just got me a bit, it got me pissed off about it. It's all right now. He's a great drummer. I don't know what the problem was."

As for Wilk, Osbourne said he "did a good job. I don't have anything bad to say. He's a very nice guy."

In an e-mail to Billboard, Rubin explained that "Brad is a muscular drummer with great feel and understands the groovy nature of their music — RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE is a groovy rock band, not a metal band — so it was worth a try. When they played together the first time, it was obvious he would do a great job in the seat [original SABBATH drummer] Bill [Ward] left vacated. Bill's a great drummer and I'm sure it would have been an amazing album with him. We all wanted him to participate."

Asked what happened with Bill Ward, who was announced as part of the band's reunion in late 2011 but bowed out a few months later, Ozzy told Spin, "To be absolutely truthful with you, I can't really remember. It was such a long time ago. There was the business side of it and the money side of it. We just didn't have the time to keep the people waiting another fucking ten years . . . We would have loved Bill Ward to step up to the plate, but it never worked out."

Ward claimed that he sat out the reunion because of unfair contractual terms, although the members of SABBATH have hinted in other interviews that he wasn't physically up to the task.

"13" was the first album in 35 years to feature Osbourne, Iommi and Butler all playing together.

In February 2017, SABBATH finished "The End" tour in Birmingham, closing out the quartet's groundbreaking 49-year career.

"The End" was SABBATH's last tour because Iommi, who was diagnosed with cancer in 2012 and is currently in remission, can no longer travel for extended amounts of time.

Last month, the FOO FIGHTERS were part of the virtual "Celebrating America" concert special for Joe Biden's inauguration, during which they performed "Times Like These". In a new interview with Tom Power, host of "Q" on Canada's CBC Radio One, FOO FIGHTERS frontman Dave Grohl stated about the experience (see video below): "You have to understand that sometimes it seems so surreal that I feel like I'm standing beside myself and watching it happen. I've actually written a little bit about how it's like your life flashing before your eyes as it's happening. So it's strange.

"It's hard for me to connect all of those dots, because there is a lot of 'full circle' going on there," he continued. "I grew up outside of Washington, D.C. My father was a Republican speech writer. He was involved in politics. I spent time on Capitol Hill.

"So, putting all those things together, with the the First Lady, Dr. Jill Biden, being a teacher, and my mother being a public school teacher for 35 years — retired now — all of these things kind of connected together to then this performance of a song that I wrote 18 years ago that's not a political song at all. It's just a song about hitting some crossroads in your life where you feel that you need some sort of rebirth, or some restart. But you have hope."

Grohl added: "I've always thought that when someone dear to you, someone close to you passes away, you have to start all over again. So you have to do everything in life all over again — your first cup of coffee since you've lost that person; your first trip to the grocery store since you've lost [that person]; and so on and so on and so on. It's basically what that song's about — about learning to love again, learning to live again; things like that.

"I think the reason why we were asked to perform was because, in the States, we need that. So it's a rebuilding in a hopeful way. And I think that's why they requested that we play that song. And it was an honor."

Back in 2018, Grohl said that he was "ashamed" of having Donald Trump as the U.S. leader, explaining that the billionaire real estate mogul "seems like a massive jerk."

"Today, the American Dream is broken," Grohl told the British GQ magazine at the time. "I've probably travelled internationally more than our current president and the one thing I understand that he doesn't is that the world isn't as big as you think it is. It is all in your neighborhood. India, Asia, Iceland aren't other solar systems. I am ashamed of our president. I feel apologetic for it when I travel."

In 2017, Grohl said in an interview with Switzerland's SRF 3 that criticism of Trump's extremist rhetoric by musicians and Hollywood stars only served to embolden and fuel his base. "I think that for years maybe they felt like the minority and now all of a sudden there's a voice that they can sort of attach themselves to, and the more pushback they get from that, it's like the stronger they feel in a lot of ways," Grohl explained. "So all you can do is fight the good fight every day when you wake up and try to be a good person and treat everybody with respect."

Asked how he, as a responsible parent, talked with his kids about the often-inflammatory behavior we saw from America's 45th president on a daily basis, Grohl told SRF 3: "I remember the night of the election, I had to sit down and have a talk with my daughter. She was terrified, man. And I basically told her what I'd just told you. I was, like, 'You can't give up hope. You just have to fight the good fight. And the things you believe in… You have to stand up and represent the things that you actually believe in.' That's what everybody should do. But I think it's hard for a kid to understand that."








Music has the power to change the world. So does voting.

Join us and many other performers for a concert to support @JoeBiden, @KamalaHarris and Democrats down the ballot.

Sign up here: https://t.co/icIBoF580w#VoteEarlyDay pic.twitter.com/QJGorHqDfa

— Foo Fighters (@foofighters) October 24, 2020

QUEENSRŸCHE vocalist Todd La Torre was recently interviewed by Greece's "TV War" about his new solo album, "Rejoice In The Suffering". You can now watch the chat below.

Speaking about the lyrical inspiration for his solo song "Critical Cynic", Todd said: "I don't wanna sit here and talk shit about America, but I don't see it as prevalent in other areas of the world where you have such protests over wearing a mask, for example. Here, everything is open in Florida [where I live]. BUCKCHERRY, the band, they're playing a concert in two days down the street at a venue. Bands are playing live music, bars are open, restaurants are open, hair salons, fitness centers, the mall — everything's open.

"I was at a home improvement store, and there was a guy that didn't even [have the mask on]; it was, like, down [below his chin], the mask. And I said to the lady [at the store], 'Hey, what do you do about guys like that that don't wear the mask?' And she says, 'Personally, I don't wait on them.' I said, 'Can't you make them leave or put it on?' She says, 'We're not allowed to.' So a lot of places, their policy, even though some places will say, 'You have to wear it or you're not allowed to be in here.' But there are many places that they are afraid of retailiation with shootings, 'cause it's happened, where people say, 'Put your mask on or get out,' that person comes back with a gun and shoots them. And it's crazy."

La Torre, whose wife is from Greece, continued: "But getting more to the point of the song, higher education… Education in Greece, I know, is paramount. Generally speaking, it is stressed that your education is important and studies and the Panhellenic Exams and all of these things… And higher learning is revered. Science is important. Skepticism is important. But in America, people, they don't believe what's happened over the last several years. People have gone from skepticism to just complete disbelief of anything and everything they hear or see. So you can have an epidemiologist that spent their life as an expert in this field, and then you have other people that just think it's B.S. — they don't believe it. So you have this weird thing where, as a matter of public safety, [some people say] 'You are infringing on my rights. This is America,' and that kind of mentality. And you say, 'Wait a minute. Your rights stop when you are in a public place, and now public health and safety is the concern.'

"So that song, 'Critical Cynic', was written about science deniers and the people that are not taking the evidence… I mean, even in Greece, you guys have been very… If you wanna go to the market [in Greece], you need to go to the market in your area — you can't just go to wherever. Over here [in Florida], I can drive anywhere I want — I can go anywhere I want. There are no measures that are very strict, and let's try to be strong now and lock things down so that hopefully we can get this under control, and the long-sighted vision is that we'll try to get back to normal."

Asked if he thinks things will change in the U.S. now that a new administration has moved into the White House, Todd said: "I think so. I mean, let's be honest: it's a very divided country; this country is very polarized. And you have to be careful. I mean, people have been mad at me: 'Oh, he's a liberal,' and blah blah blah, and, 'I don't wanna support the band he's in anymore,' or, 'I don't wanna buy his record because he's against Donald Trump,' for example, or whatever.

"Look, the facts are the facts," he continued. "And the world — you're in Europe; I've traveled all over — wasn't so favorable. And trying to work with our allies and get back into things that we can agree on that are bad for the environment. And civil rights. You don't ban countries because of their religion from flying into our country. So there are things that are just what I consider right and wrong. But I think that this administration will get things back to zero, in my opinion. But one of the things that I always think is important should be some type of socialized health care system.

"I needed some things done, and it was eight hundred dollars here. I was in Athens with my wife and my in-laws, and I got a bunch of stuff, some tests done, and it cost me 50 euros," he explained. "You guys, in your constitution, have that health is a right, and everyone pays in for the betterment of the society as people. But over here, it's 'F.U. I'm not gonna pay for your kid to go to school.' 'I'm not gonna pay for you to get treatment.' And so it's a very different mentality.

"I don't think that Joe Biden is gonna quite go where I want it to go, but I think that it will start to give us some semblance of normalcy again, let things calm down without tweets every five seconds and all this divisiveness. I don't think it's good for any of us."

"Rejoice In The Suffering" was released on February 5 via Rat Pak Records. Todd created the LP with his songwriting partner Craig Blackwell and producer Chris "Zeuss" Harris.

Never a musician to waste any precious time, ALTER BRIDGE and SLASH FEATURING MYLES KENNEDY AND THE CONSPIRATORS vocalist Myles Kennedy used the recent pandemic downtime to finalize his sophomore solo album. The finished result is the exciting new offering, "The Ides Of March", which incorporates Myles's love of rock, blues and country and is slated for release on May 14 via Napalm Records.

During his time at home due to all touring being canceled, Myles created the framework for the song ideas that would make up "The Ides Of March". He then called up his cohorts from his "Year Of The Tiger" debut — longtime friend and drummer Zia Uddin and bassist/manager Tim Tournier — and the three musicians drove to Florida to record the album with longtime producer Michael "Elvis" Baskette.

From the slide guitar riffs of the album opener "Get Along" to the pensive blues style of closer "Worried Mind", it is clear that Myles has crafted a formidable follow up to his debut solo album. While "Year Of The Tiger" was more of an acoustic exploration through Myles's mind, "The Ides Of March" finds him strapping on his electric guitar and pushing himself as a guitarist/songwriter. Tracks like "A Thousand Words", "Wake Me When It's Over" and "Moonshot" showcase the diverse musical arrangements that have garnered Myles fans globally across all of his projects. The epic "The Ides Of March" clocks in at over seven minutes, and Myles, Tim and Zia showcase their musical chops on the track.

The first single, "In Stride", opens with Myles showcasing his slide playing before delivering a lyrical message to "take it all in stride." The video for "In Stride" marks a return by Stefano Bertelli (who created the recent "Native Son" video for ALTER BRIDGE) and shows an animated Myles as he takes the end of the world in stride.

"Chill out. That pretty much sums it up," explains Myles about the single. "The lyric paints a picture of a survivalist preparing for an impending zombie apocalypse. It was inspired by the first wave of lockdowns as everyone was buying vast amounts of toilet paper and supplies. I started to ask myself if it might be wise to try and gain some perspective and not overreact… keep calm and carry on."

"The Ides Of March" track listing:

01. Get Along

02. A Thousand Words

03. In Stride

04. The Ides Of March

05. Wake Me When It's Over

06. Love Rain Down

07. Tell It Like It Is

08. Moonshot

09. Wanderlust Begins

10. Sifting Through The Fire

11. Worried Mind

In November, Myles told Kylie Olsson about how "The Ides Of March" compares to "Year Of The Tiger": "It dawned on me last night as I was listening [to the new album], I was, like, 'You basically made a rock record.' [Laughs] I don't know if I went into it with that intention initially. And I feel like it definitely is still a continuation of the overall style that was established for the solo project on 'Year Of The Tiger'. There's a fair amount of acoustic instrumentation; there's a lot of lap steel [guitar]. I love the lap steel; I just love the way you can make it weep — it's got a very vocal quality. But then I realized there's just a lot of guitar and a lot more solos — you know, guitar geek stuff that I enjoy."

A month earlier, Kennedy told Terrie Carr of the Morristown, New Jersey radio station 105.5 WDHA that it was a joy to reconnect with Uddin, Tournier and Baskette for the making of the new LP.

"Oh, yeah, it was great," he said. "It was great, because we actually drove [to the studio in Florida]. So Zia, my drummer, who, we've played together for the last 30 years, off and on, since we were in high school. He's, in my opinion, one of the greatest rock and roll drummers alive; he's so good, it's mind-boggling. So we started driving. We left Spokane, with the gear in tow. And then we met Tim about halfway. I think we met somewhere in Tennessee, maybe. Then we after driving to Orlando, we all quarantined. Zia did his drums and then he went home, and then Tim finished up. He hung around for a little while. And then I was there for, I think, seven weeks with Elvis."

He continued: "It's a fun environment. We all love each other dearly. I'm serious when I say this: we're a bunch of middle-aged children. I mean, it's as if we've taken a time machine and we're in the seventh grade. And the humor is ridiculously silly. I don't even know how to articulate how ridiculous it gets when you put all of us in a studio together. [Laughs]"

Myles's tour in support of "Year Of The Tiger" featured music from the album as well as selections from Myles's work with ALTER BRIDGE, THE MAYFIELD FOUR and SLASH FEATURING MYLES KENNEDY AND THE CONSPIRATORS.

Photo credit: Chuck Brueckmann

According to Notes From Poland, BEHEMOTH frontman Adam "Nergal" Darski has been convicted for offending religious feelings by a court in Warsaw. The charges stemmed from an image the Polish musician posted on social media showing a foot stamping on a picture of the Virgin Mary.

Darski was ordered to pay a fine of 15,000 złoty (approximately $4,000) and court costs of almost 3,500 zloty (approximately $942). However, since Darski has contested the judgement, the case will now go to trial.

After Darski shared the image on his social media in September 2019, an ultraconservative legal group, Ordo Iuris, and an organization called the Patriotic Society (Towarzystwo Patriotyczne) notified prosecutors that Darski had "offended the religious feelings of four people," including a local politician from Poland’s conservative ruling coalition.

"In the course of proceedings, the aggrieved parties were questioned and they clearly stated that their religious feelings were offended," said the spokeswoman for Warsaw district prosecutor's office, Aleksandra Skrzyniarz.

Prosecutors also consulted an expert in religious studies, whose "opinion clearly concludes that treading with a shoe on the image of the Mother of God is an offence against religious feelings," Skrzyniarz added.

Article 196 of Poland's penal code says that "Whoever offends the religious feelings of other persons by publicly insulting an object of religious worship, or a place designated for public religious ceremonies, is liable to pay a fine, have his or her liberty limited, or be deprived of his or her liberty for a period of up to two years."

Amnesty International has previously called on the Polish authorities to repeal or amend legal provisions, such as article 196 of the Criminal Code, that criminalize statements protected by the right to freedom of expression.

According to Human Rights Watch, international human rights law permits states to impose certain restrictions on the exercise of the right to freedom of expression only if such restrictions are provided by law and are demonstrably necessary and proportionate for the protection of certain specified public interests (national security, public order, protection of health or morals) or for the protection of the rights of others (including the right to protection against discrimination).

This is not the first time Nergal has encountered legal problems in Poland related to his social media activities. Back in January 2018, it was announced that Nergal was being formally charged by Polish authorities in a case involving BEHEMOTH's "Republic Of The Unfaithful" tour artwork and merchandise, which was said to be "insulting" to the national coat of arms of Poland, a stylized white eagle with a golden beak and talons, and wearing a golden crown, in a red shield. Nergal and Maciej G., who, as the band's webmaster, promoted the tour online, were accused of publicly affronting the Polish national emblem, which carries a maximum sentence of one year in prison. Also charged was Rafał Wechterowicz, the graphic artist who worked on the BEHEMOTH artwork. Three months later, Nergal posted an update via Instagram, revealing that "all the absurd charges" against him were "dismissed."

In 2011, Nergal was acquitted in Poland on charges he insulted religious sentiment when he called the Catholic Church "the most murderous cult on the planet" during the band's September 2007 performance in Gdynia and tore up a copy of the Bible, calling it "a book of lies."




„Okoliczności czynu i wina nie budzą wątpliwości”

„Nergal” skazany na 15.000 zł grzywny i 3.453 zł kosztów za obrazę uczuć relig. przez znieważenie obrazu NMP - publikując zdjęcia zniszczonego obrazu nadepniętego obutą nogą.

Gratuluję interwencji @OrdoIuris i @DariuszMatecki! pic.twitter.com/5wP6EFpp3u

— Jerzy Kwaśniewski (@jerzKwasniewski) February 15, 2021






On the set

Posted by Adam Nergal Darski on Wednesday, September 25, 2019

KORN guitarist Brian "Head" Welch spoke to "Whiplash", the KLOS radio show hosted by Full Metal Jackie, about the role of music in his life, especially as someone who got sober and found faith more than a decade and a half ago.

"I just feel like music is so important for the human soul — for some more than others," he said (hear audio below). "We're all created different; we've all got different things going, different mechanisms, or whatever you call it, in us.

"I'm an emotional guy, and I feel greatly — I feel the highs and I feel the lows," he continued. "And so music has really been there for me to help carry me out of the lows and help me soar in the highs. And for now, I just feel like music balances me in a special way to center and focus on the internal, which is my mind and my emotions, to stay steady, to stay at peace. Contentment is the key word, I think, that I'm looking for in life.

"What I do is I go to this instrumental, atmospheric music, and I go to my contemplation and meditation, and I just center myself there," Welch added. "And every day I do it, and it's so beneficial for me. And then, when I wanna have fun, I listen to the crazy stuff. But music is so important for me — more than ever — especially during these times that we're in."

Welch left KORN in early 2005, at the same time announcing that he kicked his addictions to drugs and alcohol by becoming a born-again Christian. He rejoined the band in 2013.

Both Welch and KORN bassist Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu have had highly public, though separate, conversion experiences, ones that have been greeted with a certain amount of skepticism.

Welch's LOVE AND DEATH project released its new album, "Perfectly Preserved", on February 12 via Earache Records.

Dark folk project, The Devil's Trade, has teamed up with industrial noise artist John Connor (LLNN) to collaborate on a new creative approach for the track "Dead Sister". With the incorporation of dark beats and other electronic additions, a new sonic version was born; "Dead Sister Merope". Watch the video below.

The band comments on the collaboration: "Only a handful of bands create such worlds I can relate to and when I saw LLNN in Budapest a few years ago, I immediately became a fan. So when Rasmus and Ketil asked me about their new electronic project, John Connor, I had a very hard time not to act like a crazy fanboy. Being a singer songwriter without a band I can build my songs up to a certain level but never to its full potential. They built it to a higher level where I am not able to go alone and where it became bigger than just a song."

Says John Connor: "With admiration for sci-fi music composers such as Alex North (Stanley Kubrick, 2001 - A Space Odyssey), Jóhan Jóhannsson (Denis Villeneuve, Arrival) and of course Brad Fiedel (James Cameron, Terminator) our creative approach was to launch 'Dead Sister' into space and in orbit. To create 'something else' light years apart from the original. Though still by maintaining the integrity and sincerity of the vocals. We’ve been enjoying the music from The Devil’s Trade for quite some time now, so it’s been a great experience to finally be working together. It's an interesting match of musical expressions formed by the same DNA."

The original version of "Dead Sister" is featured on the album Call Of The Iron Peak, released in August 2020. The album can be ordered here.

Tracklisting:

"The Iron Peak"
"Dead Sister"
"III"
"No Arrival"
"Expelling Of The Crafty Ape"
"IIIIIIIIIIII"
"Három Árva"
"Eyes In The Fire"
"IIIIII"
"Dreams From The Rot"
"The Call Of The Iron Peak"

Album stream:

Fuath, the atmospheric black metal offshoot of Saor’s Andy Marshall, will be releasing its upcoming full-length II, on March 19 via Season of Mist Underground Activists. Fuath is now sharing the official music video for the second single from the offering, "Into the Forest of Shadows," which can be seen below.

Originally slated as a one-off project after the release of 2016’s I, Marshall has decided to turn Fuath into a serious project. Written during the winter of 2019 and then recorded in August and September 2020 at Fortriu Studios in Scotland, II features Marshall handling vocals and all instrumentation except for drums, which were performed by Carlos Vivas in Spain. Whereas I dutifully remained within the boundaries of conventional black metal, II finds the songs going further into the frozen plains with elaborate doses of melody, ominous riffing and hypnotic blast-beat sections. II marks a huge progression for Fuath from I. When writing the debut album, Marshall was treading Fuath as a side-project and didn’t have a formalized idea of how he wanted it to sound. In contrast, II is an improvement across the board with better-crafted songs, sharper black metal vocals from Marshall and enhanced production values.

Tracklisting:

“Prophecies”
“The Pyre”
“Into The Forest Of Shadows”
“Essence”
“Endless Winter”

“Into The Forest Of Shadows” video:

“Prophecies” video:

On April 16, Endseeker will release their new album, Mount Carcass, via Metal Blade Records. For a first preview of the record, a video for the new single, "Unholy Rites" (directed and edited by the band's own Ben Liepelt), can be viewed below.

After unleashing Mount Carcass, Endseeker will host a record release livestream show on Sunday, April 18 at 10 AM, PST/1 PM, EST/ 7 PM, CET. Streamed live from Knust, Hamburg, reserve your ticket here.

* Tickets are available only as bundles with purchase of CD or vinyl (shirt optional) via Kings Road

Endseeker comments: "We took all the frustration and despair over the cancelled shows and the whole misery COVID has brought upon us all and forged it into a bunch of straight forward, powerful songs that accompanied us through 2020 and will now be shared with the rest of the world. Mount Carcass is definitely our most focused - in a way, even the angriest - record so far, and 'Unholy Rites', with its uplifting zombie-vibe, is the perfect opener for this new chapter in the history of Endseeker. We'd of course love to start this new chapter with YOU, our fans. Sadly, there won't be a sweaty sold-out release show like last time, however, we're back at the Knust in Hamburg on April 18th for a special livestream event (more details to be revealed soon). Come and celebrate with us online until we see each other in the pit again!"

Having become one of the premier German death metal bands - and rapidly rising the ranks of the genre as a whole - Endseeker storm back into the fray with Mount Carcass. Building on the groundwork laid down on 2017's Flesh Hammer Prophecy and having the difficult task of besting 2019's stunning The Harvest, they have returned with a streamlined, powerful collection that further raises the bar.

Like both of its predecessors, Mount Carcass was recorded, produced, mixed, and mastered by Eike Freese at Chameleon Studios in Hamburg, Germany. Going into the record, Endseeker knew they wanted something rawer and more organic than The Harvest, and while COVID was causing global havoc, the band embraced the time they would have otherwise spent touring, using it to rehearse and discuss what they wanted the record to be. From this process they knew they wanted the songs to be quite straightforward and even have something of a "punkish / crust feel, so to speak. The songs are pretty reduced to the core with all the ballast removed. Every part and every riff has a meaning and isn't just there for no other reason than extending the song. The album is also very melodic. There are a bunch of very strong guitar hooks and vocal compositions that really stick in your ears for days. It's way simpler and probably more easy to listen to compared to 'The Harvest' or 'Flesh Hammer Prophecy', but at the same time, it has a very spontaneous and lively attitude with a big chunk of personality."

To keep the genre sounding fresh in 2021, they focused on the production, having just a touch of the old school vibe to remain rooted, and they did not limit themselves too hard to the Swedish death metal style of songwriting they previously embraced, but also let other influences into their songs.

"You can hear all kinds of stuff that is inspired by bands like Morbid Angel, Bolt Thrower, Slayer, Dissection, Gorefest, etc. We listen to so many different bands, and somehow, a bit from all of this keeps adding to our music."

Mount Carcass is available for pre-order here in the following formats:

- digipak-CD
- 180g black vinyl (EU exclusive)
- brick red marbled vinyl (EU exclusive - limited to 300 copies)
- dark viole(n)t marbled vinyl (EU exclusive - limited to 200 copies)
- orange / black dust vinyl (Limited to 200 copies)

Mount Carcass tracklisting:

"Unholy Rites"
"Merciless Tide"
"Bloodline"
"Mount Carcass"
"Count The Dead"
"Cult"
"Moribund"
"Frantic Redemption"
"Escape From New York" (John Carpenter cover)

"Unholy Rites" video:

Endseeker lineup:

Lenny - vocals
Jury - guitars
Ben - guitars
Eggert - bass
Kummer - drums

(Photo - Toni Gunner)

Italian power/progressive metallers, Secret Sphere, are back with a new studio album, Lifeblood, out March 12. The album, aside from the deft musical prowess on display, is also special because of the return of original vocalist Roberto Messina.

Today, the band has released a lyric video for the song, "The End Of An Ego". Check it out below, and pre-order/save Lifeblood here.

Now approaching nearly 25 years of existence, Secret Sphere has been steadily and reliably crafting epic, melodic European metal of the power and progressive variety for their entire careers. With a rejuvenated line-up for their latest album, Lifeblood shows a band breathing new life and enjoying themselves.

"I spent the past two years thinking about the future of Secret Sphere and there was something missing. I needed to rediscover the joy in writing music for this band that has been part of my life for more than 20 years. And I'm pleased to say I found it. Lifeblood is the celebration of the joy to compose music," says founding member and guitarist Aldo Lonobile

The new album also marks the return of vocalist Roberto Messina to the fold, who fronted the band from 1997 – 2012. The reunion with Roberto takes everything back to those glorious early days for the band, with the same joy and will to make music for fun. Lifeblood is the result of this new found power. The album celebrates the classical sound of Secret Sphere with more energy, bombastic arrangements, and memorable choruses. An absolute must hear for not only fans of the band, but European metal fans in general.

Vocalist Roberto Messina says, “Lifeblood is the album that celebrates my return to the band, to my old roots, and “home” where I feel inspired and free. It also marks the return of the band Secret Sphere itself to its early unique style of pure, energetic, creative, and melodic power metal. Ten songs composed by a team of true friends, with a fun and metal attitude, killer production, and performances. We kick things off with the direct and aggressive title track, which includes more structured compositions and dreamy atmospheres, all with the guiding thread of catchy riffs and refrains that will remain etched in your memory. What we started more than twenty years ago is stronger than ever today!"

Tracklisting:

"Shaping Reality"
"Lifeblood"
"The End Of An Ego"
"Life Survivors"
"Alive"
"Against All The Odds"
"Thank You"
"The Violent Ones"
"Solitary Fight"
"Skywards"
"The Lie We Love"

"The End Of An Ego" lyric video:

"Lifeblood" video:

Lineup:

Roberto Messina - Voice
Aldo Lonobile - Guitars
Andrea Buratto - Bass
Gabriele Ciaccia - Keyboards
Marco Lazzarini - Drums

Joel Hoekstra, best known to rock fans as the current guitarist for Whitesnake and Trans-Siberian Orchestra (and also known for his work with Night Ranger and the Broadway show Rock Of Ages), returns with his second album, Running Games, from his electrifying solo project, Joel Hoekstra’s 13. Joined by Russell Allen (vocals), Tony Franklin (bass), Vinny Appice (drums), and Derek Sherinian (keyboards), Joel and company pick up where his debut, Dying To Live left off.

The new album is out now. Order here.

Hoekstra stopped by Guitar World to teach the solo to his new single, "How Do You", from Running Games. Check it out below:

On Running Games, Hoekstra once again handles the bulk of the creative process, overseeing production, songwriting and arranging (music and lyrics), and crafting his vision for this powerful hard rock gem. Add Chris Collier’s masterful mixing and the result is ‘70s/’80s classic hard rock with 2020’s muscle. As with the debut, Running Games features an all-star cast of musicians including none other than Russell Allen (vocals), Tony Franklin (bass), Vinny Appice (drums), and Derek Sherinian (keyboards). The amazing Jeff Scott Soto also lends a helping hand with background vocals.

Says Joel, “Years ago, I released three solo albums that were mainly instrumental guitar music. With Joel Hoekstra's 13, I have started to work on something that showcases my production, writing, and playing in the genre that I'm known for, which is melodic hard rock.”

Like Dying To Live, Running Games can be described as Dio’ish at it’s heaviest, but is also influenced by the blues- based sound of Whitesnake as well as melodic bands like Foreigner, Journey, and the like.

Hoekstra says, "‘Hard To Say Goodbye’ definitely represents the more melodic sound of the album, but rock fans can also look forward to some aggressive tracks."

On Running Games, lyrically Joel focuses on escaping problems both past and present by providing playful, imaginary, and serious takes on the situations.

Long hailed for his fiery, tasteful guitar playing, Hoekstra’s playing here raises the bar to a new level.

Tracklisting:

"Finish Line"
"I’m Gonna Lose It"
"Hard To Say Goodbye"
"How Do You"
"Heart Attack"
"Fantasy"
"Lonely Days"
"Reach The Sky"
"Cried Enough For You"
"Take What’s Mine"
"Running Games"
"Lay Down Your Love" (Bonus Track - Digital)

"How Do You":

"Finish Line" video:

"Hard To Say Goodbye":

Lineup:

Joel Hoekstra (Whitesnake/Trans-Siberian Orchestra) - guitars
Russell Allen (Symphony X, Adrenaline Mob) - lead vocals, backing vocals
Vinny Appice (ex-Black Sabbath, DIO) - drums
Tony Franklin (ex-The Firm, Blue Murder) - bass
Derek Sherinian (Sons Of Apollo, Dream Theater, Black Country Communion) - keyboards
Jeff Scott Soto (Sons Of Appollo, Trans-Siberian Orchestra) - backing vocals

Special Guests:

Lenny Castro (Toto) - percussion
Chloe Lowery (Trans-Siberian Orchestra) - backing vocals
Dave Eggar (Evanescence, Coldplay) - cello
Katie Kresek (Adele, Five For Fighting) - violin, viola

Swedish heavy metal commando, Enforcer, will release their second live album, Live By Fire II, via Nuclear Blast Records on March 19. Today, the band releases a live video for the second single, "Destroyer". Watch below.

Olof Wikstrand comments: “'Destroyer'! The song where the title says it all. It’s another live classic from the previous five years that kicks the audience in their ass and get’s them going. Among my all-time favorites to open with and to play live.”

Live By Fire II offers an intense and passionate performance captured in front of a truly dedicated and wild audience in Mexico City, 2019. Live By Fire II lets you experience Enforcer at the top of their game and marks an outstanding live record documenting the group’s steady path to global recognition in recent years. It also serves as a stunning reminder of how many heavy metal anthems ENFORCER have crafted on their total of five studio albums so far! From the speed metal attack of "Destroyer." "Searching For You," "Midnight Vice" to perfect sing-alongs like "From Beyond," "One Thousand Years In Darkness." and "Take Me Out Of This Nightmare," the enthusiastic crowd and powerful sound of Live By Fire II result in a captivating and extremely entertaining listen.

Physical formats of the release will be including extensive booklets containing a tour program, liner notes and tons of photos compiled and designed by vocalist/guitarist Olof Wikstrand recapturing ENFORCER’s touring cycle for the albums From Beyond and Zenith during the years 2015-2020. Live By Fire II will be released as Gatefold 2LP with 16-LP sized booklet, CD with 28-page booklet, and digital album.

Pre-order the album in the format of your choice, here.

The full video of the entire show will be premiered on the release date. Set a reminder here.

Tracklisting:

"Die For The Devil"      
"Searching For You"     
"Undying Evil "  
"From Beyond"
"Bells Of Hades" + "Death Rides This Night"        
"Zenith Of The Black Sun"        
"Live For The Night"     
"Mesmerized By Fire"  
"One Thousand Years Of Darkness"  
Guitar Solo + City Lights Jam
"Scream Of The Savage"          
Drum Solo      
"Run For Your Life"       
"Take Me Out Of This Nightmare"       
"Destroyer"       
"Katana"           
"Midnight Vice"

"From Beyond" live video:

Lineup:

Olof Wikstrand - vocals, guitars
Jonas Wikstrand - drums, piano & keyboards
Tobias Lindqvist - bass
Jonathan Nordwall - guitars

Black Lodge Records announce the signing of Swedish death/thrash metal act, Siniestro, and their new album, Vortexx, which is set for a May 14 release.

The first track from the album, "One Last Bullet One Last Ride", will be out on March 19 along with a music video. The album will also feature guest appearances by Erik Grawsiö from Månegarm and Jens Järvinen from Järnblod.

Commander (vocals, guitar, bass, organ) comments: "We are proud to announce that we will release the new album Vortexx in 2021. We have signed and sealed the deal with Black Lodge Records. We're looking forward to the great journey we have ahead of us. Take no prisoners. Leave no one alive."

Pre-order Vortexx here.

Vortexx tracklisting:

"One Last Bullet One Last Ride"
"Vortex"
"Blod eld död"
"Black Acid Rain"
"Hiisi" (Instrumental)
"Escape by Death"
"Den svartaste flamman och renaste hat"
"Buried in the Bog"
"Anti Human Commando"
"My Innermost Sun" (Instrumental)

Temperance will release their new acoustic EP, Melodies Of Green And Blue, on February 19 via Napalm Records. The new single, “Paint The World",  is one of the six acoustic renditions of songs from their album, Viridian, found on the melodic/symphonic metal outfit’s new EP. After many years of band history and tours with genre giants like Nightwish, Luca Turilli's Rhapsodey and Tarja, Temperance will release Melodies Of Green And Blue – a gift to their loyal fans.

On this acoustic version, sparkling musical production hits multi-layered vocal harmonies in a dense and catchy acoustic composition. With “Paint The World”, Temperance invites you into a stripped back musical setting, offering glorious melodies and rich chords to pleasantly get lost in.

Singer Michele Guaitoli about “Paint The World”: "Together with the emotion of going acoustic, we also had the chance to write some brand new tracks for this acoustic EP, moving away from the original style of the band. Even though we released tracks like “Gaia” or “Scent Of Dye” before, “Paint The World” is a semi-acoustic ballad that would have been hard to include in any other Temperance’s record as it too much in between the acoustic world and the electric world. Like many other times in Temperance’s history, we immediately took advantage of this possibility that Napalm gave us, to experiment with something different and new. I believe in this song as you can clearly feel the influences of our youth, the alternative rock of the early 2000s, and the beginning of our musical dreams: the dreams of a bunch of kids who wanted to paint their own picture of this world.“

Watch the music video for “Paint The World” below:

Michele Guaitoli comments on the Melodies Of Green And Blue EP: "We’ve been talking about recording some acoustic versions of our tracks for a long time, as we all love the intimate and emotional feeling that this particular style can offer to any tracks. If you think of it, this is how most of our songs are composed: it’s Marco on his guitar or me on the piano. Everything for us begins in acoustic before going metal. This EP is a little dream come true, as we can finally show the heart of our music in its purest version."

Pre-order Melodies Of Green And Blue here.

Tracklisting:

"Paint the World"
"Evelyn"
"Let It Beat"
"I Am the Fire"
"Nanook"
"Start Another Round"
"My Demons Can't Sleep"
"Gaia"

“Evelyn” (Acoustic) video:

"Start Another Round" (Acoustic) video:

Temperance is:

Alessia Scolletti - Vocals
Michele Guaitoli - Vocals & Piano
Marco Pastorino - Guitar & Vocals
Luca Negro - Bass
Alfonso Mocerino – Drums

(Photo - Ermes Buttolo)

In August 2019, power metal newcomers Northtale released their successful debut album Welcome To Paradise and recently announced their new vocalist, 30 year old Guilherme Hirose from Sao Paolo, Brazil. Today, the band is happy to reveal a new clip of the song "Bring Down The Mountain" with Hirose on vocals. 

"After getting such amazing feedback on our new singer, you asked us to hear him singing some of the songs from Welcome To Paradise. Based on your feedback and your votes, we present you the first video of Guilherme Hirose singing 'Bring Down The Mountain'. That being said... just wait to hear him on our new album," comments guitarist Bill Hudson. 

Hudson issued the following statement regarding Hirose coming on board as Northtale's new singer:

"Guilherme blew my mind through his initial auditions, nailing the songs from the first album as if they were written for his own voice. But he really shined on our new songs. When he sent me the first recording, I knew he was the guy. I had no doubt. When I presented him to the band to get their opinions, they unanimously voted for him! We’re a band once again! We’re currently recording vocals at Dharma Studios in São Paulo, Brazil with engineer Rodrigo Oliveira partnering up with Dennis Ward to deliver amazing performances. We’re once again ready to hit the road!" 

Guilherme Hirose adds: "Well it’s just amazing being in a band with such great world class musicians. We’ve been talking since June, and in August I received a Bill’s call, telling I me was the chosen one. Things were shaping just great since, and the new songs sound just awesome (I know it’s a cliché, but that’s exactly how it feels). I’m very much looking forward to hitting the road, as soon as possible, having fun with the guys and with you in your city!"

Northtale recently announced European tour dates with Striker and headliners Unleash The Archers. Dates are as follows:

November
24 - Berlin, Germany - Columbia Theater
25 - Hamburg, Germany - Kronensaal
26 - Kassel, Germany - Goldgrube
27 - Zlin, Czech Republic - Winter Masters Of Rock **
28 - Wroclaw, Poland - Pralnia
30 - Ljubljana, Slovenia - Orto Bar

December
1 - Vienna, Austria -  Szene
2 - Budapest, Hungary - Barba Negra
3 - Geiselwind, Germany - Christmas Bash **
4 - Mannheim, Germany -7er Club
5 - Leipzig, Germany - Hellraiser
7 - Lyon, France - Warmaudio
8 - Paris, France - Backstage
9 - Toulouse, France - L’usine à Musique
10 - Bilbao, Spain - Stage Live
11 - Madrid, Spain Shoko
12 - Barcelona, Spain - Razzmatazz 2
14 - Milan, Italy - Legend Club
15 - Aarau, Switzerland - Kiff
16 - Siegburg, Germany - Kubana
17 - Aarschot, Belgium - De Klinker
18 - Eindhoven, Netherlands - Dynamo
19 - Munich, Germany - Backstage Halle

** Unleash The Archers only

This past Valentine's Day, Cleveland masked metallers MUSHROOMHEAD kicked things into high gear with the reveal of their first ever grindhouse-style "Shroomhouse" double feature: a 25-minute trip inside the minds of the masked madmen featuring two extravagant new music videos for recent fan favorites "Carry On" and "Madness Within". Both clips can now be viewed below.

The "Shroomhouse" double feature not only included the aforementioned music videos, but also twisted film trailers, cinema featurettes and more, all produced by the distorted minds of the members of MUSHROOMHEAD themselves.

MUSHROOMHEAD's eighth album, "A Wonderful Life", was released in June 2020 via Napalm Records. The follow-up to 2014's "The Righteous & The Butterfly" is accented by the sharp production of MUSHROOMHEAD mastermind and drummer/percussionist Steve "Skinny" Felton, as well as the standout mixing prowess of Matt Wallace (FAITH NO MORE, 3 DOORS DOWN), also recognized for his work on the band's classic offering "XIII".

"A Wonderful Life" was MUSHROOMHEAD's first album since the March 2018 departures of longtime vocalist Jeff "Jeffrey Nothing" Hatrix and guitarist Tommy Church. They have been replaced by Steve Rauckhorst and Tommy Shaffner, respectively. Longtime touring vocalist Jackie LaPonza was also named a permanent member.

"Those guys have been in the Cleveland scene for like 20 years and we've been friends forever," Skinny explained to American Songwriter. "They were actually part of our road crew 17-18 years ago, so there was no getting to know you period. We've all been on buses stuck with each other overseas and same with Jackie, she's been touring with us for over six years, so it was easy to work with all three of these guys. It was a seamless transition."

South African sleaze rockers L.A. Cobra have joined forces with international record label Golden Robot Records. The band will release their fourth studio album under Crusader Records (part of the Golden Robot Global Entertainment Group). 

"I am super excited for what the future holds," says L.A. Cobra frontman, Don Cobra. "Fifteen years of busting our balls paid off and I couldn’t be more grateful to be part of the Golden Robot Records / Crusader Records family."
 
L.A. Cobra released all of its previous material independently and the band is now ready to broaden its horizons with the release of a new album later this year. 

"Our 2017 album, Shotgun Slinger, really opened a lot of doors for the band and with our new release we want to build on its success. Signing with Golden Robot Records is an exciting opportunity to broaden our reach,” says Cobra guitarist Slade Sleaze. 

L.A. Cobra has been in the studio for most of 2020 and the new album (title to be announced soon) is set for worldwide release under the Crusader Records banner. The band is again joining forces with Martin Sweet (Crashdiet) for the production, mixing, and mastering on this new album. 

Drummer Callie The Animal: "Due to the Covid pandemic we had to postpone our 2020 European tour. Perhaps everything happens for a reason and now we can reschedule the tour properly. Signing with Golden Robot Records is definitely a surreal experience. We have been working towards this for the last 15 years so you’d think I’d have something clever to say about it. I don’t. Except that I am really excited."

Bassist added Ewil Honey: "It’s been a life-long dream for me to sign with such an epic record label. It is a privilege to be part of the Golden Robot Records family." 

L.A.Cobra joins the Golden Robot Records family amongst a long list of the best that the music industry has to offer, including L.A. Guns, Hardcore Superstar, Wildstreet, Toxic Rose, Gilby Clarke, Phil X, Hookers & Blow and many more. 

Kip Winger has commenced laying down vocals for WINGER's seventh studio album. The disc, which is tentatively due this summer, will be the follow-up to 2014's "Better Days Comin'".

On Monday (February 15), WINGER uploaded a short video of Kip in the studio, and it captioned it: "Started vocals! #WingerVII".

Last December, WINGER guitarist Reb Beach told the 213Rock Podcast that he and Kip had "written about seven songs for the new album. It sounds great," he said. "It's WINGER — heavy riffs with big vocals. Very catchy songs and very heavy stuff — very progressive."

A month earlier, Beach told the "Pat's Soundbytes Unplugged" podcast that he and Kip had pieced together ideas for 11 tracks for WINGER's next album, but that Kip "threw away six of 'em, saying that this has to be like the first BOSTON record where every song is undeniable. And he just wants it to be progressive and like nothing he's hard before," he said. "I brought him these riffs that are just straight-ahead rock riffs, and he said, 'I already know what the next three chords are gonna be after I've heard three chords.'

"We're going for something that's poppy and sing-along stuff yet cool, heavy, progressive riffs — kind of like [2009's] 'Karma'," Reb explained. "That's what we're going for."

In the spring of 2020, WINGER invited artists, friends and fans — including Alice Cooper and members of SCORPIONS, STEELHEART and WARRANT — to sing along to "Better Days Comin'", the title track of the band's sixth studio album. An official music video for the new version of the song was made available in late April.

WINGER formed in the late 1980s and soared to immediate success with its 1988 self-titled release. The album spawned the hit singles "Seventeen" and "Headed For A Heartbreak" and achieved platinum sales status. "Winger" also stayed on The Billboard 200 chart for over 60 weeks where it peaked at #21. Their next album, "In The Heart Of The Young", also achieved platinum status behind the singles "Can't Get Enuff" and "Miles Away". The change in musical climate of the mid-'90s, compounded with unprovoked ridicule on MTV's popular "Beavis And Butt-Head" show, led the band to go on hiatus in 1994. In 2001, WINGER reunited and has not looked back since. Kip also earned a 2016 Grammy nomination for the classical album "C.F. Kip Winger: Conversations With Nijinsky", recorded with the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra.
























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Boston five-piece, Wilderun, have released a new music video for their cover of Iron Maiden's "Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son". Watch the music video, which is off of the band's recent full-length album Veil Of Imagination, below.

"I originally chose this song as a cover because I felt like we could really give it the Wilderun 'treatment', if there is such a thing. Obviously, we are partial to longer and more epic tracks, so choosing this song just made sense. I always enjoy when bands make cover songs their own, and try to make it less discernible from their core discography than you might expect, so that's what we attempted here. Much of the guitar work still pays homage to Maiden, but we tried to match some of the atmosphere of "Veil of Imagination" with the symphonic elements, so it feels like it belongs to that same world," states Wilderun vocalist Evan Anderson Berry.  

Just this past July, Wilderun re-released their third album Veil Of Imagination via Century Media Records. The album is available to purchase and stream here.

Formed in 2012, Wilderun have previously released two albums, 2012's Olden Tales & Deathly Trails and 2015's Sleep At The Edge Of The Earth. With a slightly different approach to creating music, the forthcoming re-release of Veil of Imagination transforms and expands upon Wilderun's already indefinable style, resulting in an album that is beautiful and fierce. Clean vocals transform into deathly growls as the band alternates between exquisitely-composed orchestrations and savage metal, all executed with technical prowess. Veil of Imagination is an epic, emotional and whimsical odyssey through landscapes of earth and mind.

Wilderun is:

Evan Anderson Berry (vocals, guitars)
Dan Müller (bass)
Jon Teachey (drums)
Joe Gettler(guitar)
Wayne Ingram (guitar)

MOTÖRHEAD and Germany… it was always a love affair.

Throughout the Grammy Award-winning band's illustrious 40-year career, Germany never wavered in its loyal and fanatical support of MOTÖRHEAD's untouchably loud rock 'n' roll, with the band regularly selling out tour after tour. And on December 5, 2012, at the Berlin Velodrom, MOTÖRHEAD played one of their biggest-ever German gigs to 12,000 delirious, delighted and demented MOTÖRHEAD fans during the "Kings Of The Road" tour. The event was thankfully recorded, and on April 23, Silver Lining Music will proudly present "Louder Than Noise… Live In Berlin" on CD with bonus DVD, double vinyl, and limited-edition boxset.

Featuring Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister, Phil Campbell and Mikkey Dee, "Louder Than Noise… Live In Berlin" is a crowning, definitive statement as to the power the trio had long held. Theirs was a lineup which had spent decades cracking sound barriers, bending ears and decimating lawns worldwide, consistently delivering the Motörgospel to hundreds of thousands of fans, and this lineup was MOTÖRHEAD's longest serving by a considerable distance (Phil joined in 1984, Mikkey in 1992, and the band played as a trio from 1995 until the band's final show in 2015).

Throughout "Louder Than Noise… Live In Berlin" their powerful synergy boots its way through the speakers with the boisterous charm and dirty, dangerous, sweaty gusto that was the Kilmister/Campbell/Dee trademark. From the unapologetically furious "I Know How to Die" to a deliciously raucous "Going To Brazil", "Louder Than Noise… Live In Berlin" is all about the thick, raw and liberating power of MOTÖRHEAD live, with longtime producer Cameron Webb bringing his mixing skills to the party as well as doing a 5.1 mix of the DVD. Further highlights include a favorably feral "Rock It", a rudely raunchy "You Better Run" and a classic one-two haymaker of "Ace Of Spades" and "Overkill". The leading track from the album will be a cranium-cracking "Over The Top", a song which must be as close to definitive of this band as you'll ever find.

The whole night was captured by Herwig Meyszner, who has also produced concert films for the likes of SAXON, EXODUS and KREATOR, with a multi-camera no-shot-missed shoot that captures not just the energy onstage but the energy on the floor. In so many ways, "Louder Than Noise… Live In Berlin" is a joyous celebration of Lemmy, Phil, Mikkey and this special night in Germany, and whether a collector completist or newbie to MOTÖRHEAD's music, "Louder Than Noise… Live In Berlin" is a welcome reminder of what real rock 'n' roll is truly about.

Track listing:

01. I Know How To Die

02. Damage Case

03. Stay Clean

04. Metropolis

05. Over The Top

06. Doctor Rock

07. String Theory

08. The Chase Is Better Than The Catch

09. Rock It

10. You Better Run

11. The One To Sing The Blues

12. Going To Brazil

13. Killed By Death

14. Ace Of Spades

15. Overkill

Atlanta progressive metallers MASTODON have released a short video in celebration of the band's 21st anniversary. The band wrote in an accompanying message: "MASTODON is officially of drinking age! Yay! Thanks to all of our supporters who have stuck in with us over the years, and for the new ones, welcome to they party! It's been a crazy journey so far! Can't wait for the day we get to play live for ya! Until then, we'll keep working away on new music."

Last year, when MASTODON celebrated its 20th anniversary, MASTODON drummer and vocalist Brann Dailor told Revolver that it was "pretty crazy" to know that the band was two decades old. "I remember being on my first European tour with TODAY IS THE DAY, and we were out there with NEUROSIS and VOIVOD," he said. "Both those bands had been around for, like, 10 or 15 years at that point, and I thought it was crazy that you could be in a band for that long. [Laughs] When we were in Seattle recording 'Leviathan', I went to the MELVINS' 20th-anniversary show, which I thought was an insane amount of time to be in a band. And now here I am. [Laughs] I'm in one of those bands."

He continued: "But I'm super proud of everything we've done, of all the music and art we've produced, and that we're the same four idiots. [Laughs] Relationships are difficult, you know? Most bands that have been around this long don't have the same members. We spend a lot of time together on the road — not recently, of course — and a lot of drunken craziness has happened. And we've survived it."

Last fall, MASTODON recruited David Bottrill (TOOL, STAIND) to produce the band's eighth studio album. The follow-up to 2017's "Emperor Of Sand" is being recorded at West End Sound, which is located inside of Ember City, the rehearsal facility that members of MASTODON manage in Atlanta.

MASTODON's new disc will mark the band's first collection of new material since the death of longtime manager Nick John and the passing of tour manager Bob Dallas.

MASTODON's latest rarities collection titled "Medium Rarities", was released in September. The compilation includes a new song called "Fallen Torches" as well as a bevy of classic covers, soundtrack contributions, instrumentals, B-sides, and live recordings on one complete package for the very first time.

"Emperor Of Sand" debuted at No. 7 on the Billboard 200. That LP was nominated for the 2018 Grammy Award for "Best Rock Album," and its opening track, "Sultan's Curse", won the Grammy Award for "Best Metal Performance."

Last year, MASTODON wrote and recorded a new song called "Rufus Lives" for inclusion in the latest "Bill & Ted Face The Music" movie.

"Bill & Ted Face The Music", which reunited Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves in the title roles for the first time since 1991's "Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey", was released in August.

Grindcore/hardcore punk veterans VENOMOUS CONCEPT — featuring members of BRUTAL TRUTH and NAPALM DEATH — have completed work on their fifth album at Headline Music Studios in Cambridge, U.K. with producer Simon Efemey. The follow-up to 2020's "Politics Versus The Erection" is tentatively due later this year via Season Of Mist.

Earlier today, VENOMOUS CONCEPT bassist Shane Embury took to his Instagram to write: "Finally finished the next VENOMOUS CONCEPT album with Simon Efemey at #headlinemusicstudios - I am seriously over the moon with what we all achieved ! Team work as Simon says is always the way !

"The goal was to make an album that was not just another VC album but a venture into other areas of punk and hard rock - letting all of our lifetimes musical collective flow to make it the best we could !

"Lyrically deep within these times - we have all had life issues - that is life - the hero's journey.

"Songs at points have an amazing melody both sad sounding and uplifting to reflect the true emotions - catchy ...

"I don't know what anyone will think but come what may we made the album we wanted to make ... that's all that really matters.

"Not sure why I had to write this but felt I needed too !"

Starting out in 2004, VENOMOUS CONCEPT was conceived as something like a grind punk supergroup — if that term can even be applied to a bunch of people with clear counterculture preferences. The name was chosen to pay homage to the legendary POISON IDEA.

At the core of VENOMOUS CONCEPT, you will find BRUTAL TRUTH vocalist Kevin Sharp and Shane Embury, the iconic bass player of NAPALM DEATH. The two musicians had bonded over beer and pizza as well as their mutual love of punk heroes such as BLACK FLAG, SYSTEMATIC DEATH, GBH, SIEGE, and, of course, POISON IDEA.

The duo soon set about plotting its own assault on the style. Armed with bucketloads of coffee, the pair roped in Danny Herrera of NAPALM DEATH on drums, as well as MELVINS guitarist Buzz Osborne. A record deal was signed with Mike Patton and VENOMOUS CONCEPT's first album, "Retroactive Abortion" (2004) was followed by a split-CD with Japanese grind band 324 (2006) and another in 2008 with BLÖOD DÜSTER.

Buzz Osborne eventually went on a hiatus, but he never really left and there is always a chance for his return — schedules permitting. Shane switched to guitar when longtime friend Dan Lilker (BRUTAL TRUTH, NUCLEAR ASSAULT, ex-ANTHRAX) joined on bass. Next, VENOMOUS CONCEPT brought in John Cooke of CORRUPT MORAL ALTAR on second guitar for touring. Sophomore full-length "Poisoned Apple" hit the stores in 2008.

A quiet spell followed, but the band returned fully charged and ready for attack with their third record "Kick Me Silly - VC III" in 2016, which saw VENOMOUS CONCEPT continue in their trademark grindcore punk style. Following a European tour with BRUJERIA in 2019 and several festivals shows, the musicians headed back into the studio to write and record their fourth album, the aforementioned "Politics Versus The Erection".

VENOMOUS CONCEPT is:

Kevin Sharp - Vocals

Shane Embury - Bass

John Cooke - Guitar

Danny Herrera - Drums
























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A post shared by Shane Embury (@shanenapalm)

FIRSTBORNE, the band featuring Grammy Award-winning artist Chris Adler and fellow MEGADETH alum James LoMenzo, has just released "Mourning Star". This song is a continuation of the sound that the band has moved toward since "Save Myself" — a high-intensity mix of thrash, rock and heavy metal punctuated by breakneck technical playing from Adler, LoMenzo and guitarist Myrone.

Adler teamed up with longtime friend and producer Gene "Machine" Freeman to mix and master "Mourning Star".

Commented Adler: "How do you rephrase the standard press response of 'here's our new song and it's the best!!'? Been there done that — as have you. I'll say this, I'm very proud to be in a band with these guys [James, Myrone, Girish], and 'Mourning Star' is a great example of why I feel that way. Working with the guys and Machine on this has been a blast and we are all excited to share it with you today."

FIRSTBORNE's self-titled debut EP came out last year and marked the acclaimed drummer's first dedicated band release since his departure from MEGADETH and LAMB OF GOD.

FIRSTBORNE features Girish Pradhan on vocals and guitar, Myrone on guitar, LoMenzo on bass, and Adler on drums.

The FIRSTBORNE self-titled EP included five songs and two lyric videos. The EP represented several years of dedicated introspection and refined effort to the idea of a heavy and positive message.

As might be expected, Adler chose his bandmates in this endeavor meticulously.

Not too long ago, Adler shared the stage across the Middle East with LoMenzo in HAIL! Prior to that, LoMenzo and Adler orbited each other for years traveling together on tours crossing the globe. The connect was inevitable.

Adler and Myrone began collaborating in early 2019 after Myrone noticed Adler's e-mail address attached to a Bandcamp sales notification email. Adler had been a fan of Myrone's talent for years prior and as soon as they connected, it was game on.

A chance meeting in India, almost a second home to Chris after eight visits, was the spark needed to form the international group FIRSTBORNE and for Chris to return to the studio. Adler met and shared the stage with Pradhan during a six-week clinic tour of India in the fall of 2019. After the first show of the clinic tour, Adler immediately called Myrone, noting he'd "struck gold" in their search for a singer for the then-unnamed project.

Girish Pradhan is the glue that united FIRSTBORNE. Pradhan on vocals represents an almost unprecedented international collaboration.

Pradhan is an established and well-known recording and touring artist in India and resides in Bengaluru. His band GIRISH AND THE CHRONICLES made international headlines earlier this year with their new album "Rock The Highway" and music videos "Rock 'N Roll Is Here to Stay", "Identity Crisis" and "Rock The Highway".

Speaking on his experience creating with FIRSTBORNE, Myrone explains: "Every single part of this experience has been extremely surreal for me. Girish is one of the best metal vocalists on the planet, Chris is one of the most influential drummers of the last 25 years, and JLO can play anything from MEGADETH to John Fogerty to Motown and everything in between. I can't believe I get to share space on a .wav with them."

Myrone is a Los Angeles-based producer/guitarist who pioneered the "soft shred" genre. In the last six years, he has released seven albums and two EPs of instrumental guitar music and racked up millions of Spotify streams. In addition to his own recordings, he has collaborated with Rivers Cuomo (WEEZER), SZA, Little Boots, Michael Christmas and Deaton Chris Anthony. Most recently, Myrone was Guitar #1 in the L.A. production of "Rock Of Ages", the 29th-longest running show in Broadway history.

LoMenzo is a veteran touring/recording musician since his multi-platinum band WHITE LION in the 1980s. Lomenzo is one of the most in-demand rock bass players in the world. His list of credits includes WHITE LION, Zakk Wylde's BLACK LABEL SOCIETY/PRIDE & GLORY, MEGADETH, Jerry Cantrell, David Lee Roth, SLASH'S SNAKEPIT, LYNCH MOB, FREHEY'S COMET and more. Recently he's been the touring/recording bassist for the legendary John Fogerty and can be seen in the live concert film "John Fogerty : My Fifty Year Trip" recorded live at Red Rocks.

LoMenzo had this to say about his collaboration within his new band, FIRSTBORNE: "I first met Chris in 2006 on MEGADETH's 'Gigantour'. I was playing bass with MEGADETH at the time. Watching Chris on that tour, I recall being struck by the creativity, speed and power of his drumming with LAMB OF GOD. In contrast, I found him to be a gentle, thoughtful soul. Years later, I had the opportunity to finally play with Chris, performing in the Middle East with the all-star metal band HAIL! We had a great time. At this time, Chris mentioned he was looking forward to exploring making all kinds of music. I suggested he keep me in mind. Next thing I know I'm being introduced to Myrone through a demo that Chris forwarded to me. I was immediately drawn to the music. Myrone's guitar is uniquely untethered to any one style. He's a brilliant and capable amalgam of classic rock, new and classic metal. Girish on top of all this had me stunned! A soaring, powerful voice that while uniquely his own, conjures images of the greatest singers of metal, blues and classic rock. His voice is a powerful, emotive vehicle to inform through his heartfelt and socially conscious lyrics. To my ear, the combination of all this musical talent is wonderfully unique and perfectly familiar. I'm very proud and excited for music fans to hear this new musical collaboration."

Adler added: "I've been incredibly fortunate in my creative endeavors. From the start, I sought out the best players I could find to work alongside. It's been an incredible journey that is clearly not over. Some things have changed. This may not be exactly what people expect from me right now, and I'm aware and embrace that. It's time for something new. I'm have a platform to present something important, true and collaborative. Creating FIRSTBORNE beckons cohesiveness as a mission statement. This is not about being mad all the time, egos or fabricating polarizing drama. 'This is right' is now my alarm clock. Girish, Myrone and James have the exact locker room mentality of 'kill 'em all! but let's make sure everyone is okay and having a kick-ass time' that I try and bring to everything I do. FIRSTBONE is the result of all of my experiences, both positive and negative, and I'm proud of what we are doing together."

Adler is a Grammy-winning American metal drummer from Richmond, Virginia. Chris founded LAMB OF GOD in 1994 and helped usher in what critics have dubbed the "New Wave Of American Heavy Metal." LAMB OF GOD's discography with Chris includes multiple gold records and platinum DVDs as well as five Grammy nominations.

Chris received a Grammy for playing drums on legendary thrash metal band MEGADETH's 2016 record "Dystopia". Chris also toured with MEGADETH in support of the record while juggling and occasionally combining tour dates with LAMB OF GOD.

Chris has collaborated and contributed to records with PROTEST THE HERO, TESTAMENT, THAIKKUDAM BRIDGE, Michael Angelo Batio and Ron Jarzombek.

In 2018, Chris created an artist management firm Kintsugi Management.

FIRSTBORNE is:

Vocals: Girish Pradhan

Guitar: Myrone

Bass: James LoMenzo

Drums: Chris Adler

ICED EARTH guitarist Jon Schaffer can apparently be seen in newly released security footage from the January 6 U.S. Capitol riot that the House impeachment managers obtained and submitted as evidence for former President Donald Trump's second impeachment trial.

The clip in question, which was released by CNN on Monday (February 15), shows rioters charging through a breached entrance and engaging and pushing officers. A man resembling Schaffer can be seen near the front of the mob, wearing a blue hooded sweatshirt, a tactical vest and black leather fingerless tactical gloves, and pointing his finger while yelling at the officers. (See video below.)

Last month, Schaffer was arrested for his role in the riot at the U.S. Capitol. The 52-year-old musician, who resides in in Edinburgh, Indiana, is facing six federal criminal charges after he was accused of spraying a police officer with a pepper-based bear repellant during the insurrection.

Schaffer waived his preliminary hearing as well as his rights to an identity hearing and production of a warrant in late January in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, court documents state. He will soon be transported by a United States marshal to Washington, D.C. where government lawyers and Schaffer's legal team have mutually agreed to handle all proceedings.

Schaffer is entitled to a hearing on the issue of pretrial detention upon his arrival in D.C., court documents said.

Last month, government lawyers asked the judge to not offer Schaffer a bond when he goes in front of U.S. magistrate.

Schaffer must prove to the federal magistrate that he is not a threat to himself or the public before being released on bail. Others who have been charged for insurrection at the Capitol have been given bail but ordered to surrender their firearms, avoid contact with other alleged Capitol rioters and stay away from all state capitol buildings. Some other alleged rioters have been prohibited from using social media and participating in any political rallies.

Schaffer was photographed wearing an "Oath Keepers Lifetime Member" cap during the insurrection. The Oath Keepers describe themselves as an association of former law enforcement and military personnel dedicated to "support and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic." But the Anti-Defamation League describes it as "a large but loosely organized collection of right-wing anti-government extremists who are part of the militia movement, which believes that the federal government has been coopted by a shadowy conspiracy that is trying to strip American citizens of their rights."

Schaffer has been held in the Marion County Jail since surrendering to police on January 17. He made his first court appearance the following day.

Just hours after the insurrection, ICED EARTH fans recognized Schaffer in a photo released by federal investigators.

Schaffer is believed to be one of at least 400 people who are being investigated by FBI officials over their roles in the insurrection.

More than 230 criminal cases have been filed so far. Charges include unauthorized access, theft, damage to government property and assault on law enforcement officers.

WHITESNAKE celebrates the blues sound that helped inspire its multi-platinum career on a new collection that features remixed and remastered versions of the group's best blues-rock songs. "The Blues Album" is the third and final release in the band's "Red, White And Blues" trilogy, a series of compilations organized by musical themes that began last year with "Love Songs" (red) and "The Rock Album" (white).

"The Blues Album" is available for pre-order now, and will be available on February 19 digitally and on CD and as a double-LP set pressed on 180-gram, blue vinyl. Like "The Rock Album" and "Love Songs", all the tracks on "The Blues Album" have been revisited, remixed, and remastered.

A new video in which WHITESNAKE singer-songwriter David Coverdale unboxes the "The Blues Album" double-LP set can be seen below.

Coverdale says the music reflects how blues artists like Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, and the three Kings (Albert, B.B. and Freddie) continue to inspire him. In the album's liner notes, he writes: "It's hard to find the words to show how profoundly they connected with my soul. But 'blues' to me is a beautiful word that describes emotional expression… feelings, be it feelings of sadness, loneliness, emptiness… but also those that express great joy, celebration and dance, sexiness and love!!!"

The new compilation delivers a potent mix of hits and deep tracks that originally appeared between 1984 and 2011 on six WHITESNAKE studio albums and Coverdale's solo album, "Into The Light".

"The Blues Album" showcases two of the band's biggest songs: "Slow An' Easy", a Top 20 Mainstream Rock hit in 1984 from WHITESNAKE's double-platinum album "Slide It In", and a brand new guitar-based remix of the smash hit "Give Me All Your Love" from the band's 1987 self-titled album, which was certified multi multi platinum. Other choice tracks from WHITESNAKE are also featured: "Looking For Love" and "Crying In The Rain" and "Steal Your Heart Away", which is available now.

"Restless Heart" (1997), "Good to Be Bad" (2008) and "Forevermore" (2011) are all represented on "The Blues Album" by multiple tracks ("Too Many Tears", "A Fool In Love" and "Steal Your Heart Away"). The collection also includes "If You Want Me", a studio recording released in 2006 as a bonus track on the live album "Live… In The Shadows Of The Blues". Coverdale also taps his 2000 solo album, "Into The Light", for "River Song".

"The Blues Album"

CD track listing:

01. Steal Your Heart Away

02. Good To Be Bad

03. Give Me All Your Love

04. Take Me Back Again

05. Slow An' Easy

06. Too Many Tears

07. Lay Down Your Love

08. The River Song

09. Whipping Boy Blues

10. If You Want Me

11. A Fool In Love

12. Woman Trouble Blues

13. Looking For Love

14. Crying In The Rain

LP track listing:

Side One

01. Steal Your Heart Away

02. Good To Be Bad

03. Give Me All Your Love

04. Take Me Back Again

Side Two

01. Slow An' Easy

02. Too Many Tears

03. Lay Down Your Love

Side Three

01. The River Song

02. Whipping Boy Blues

03. If You Want Me

04. A Fool In Love

Side Four

01. Woman Trouble Blues

02. Looking For Love

03. Crying In The Rain

FOO FIGHTERS' "Medicine At Midnight" has landed at No. 1 on Billboard's Top Album Sales chart with first-week sales of 64,000 copies in the U.S.

The Top Album Sales chart ranks the top-selling albums of the week based only on traditional album sales.

FOO FIGHTERS previously topped the chart with 2017's "Concrete And Gold" and 2011's "Wasting Light".

23,000 of "Medicine At Midnight"'s first-week sales came from vinyl LP sales, with CDs and digital albums registering 20,000 each.

"Medicine At Midnight" came out on February 5 via Roswell Records/RCA Records. The LP is a nine-song, 37-minute effort which was produced by the FOO FIGHTERS and Greg Kurstin.

The first single from the disc, "Shame Shame", was released in November. An accompanying music video for the song was directed by Paola Kudacki and co-stars FOO FIGHTERS frontman Dave Grohl and Sofia Boutella. "Shame Shame" renders in stunning black and white an interpretation of a recurring dream that's haunted Grohl since his childhood days.

Grohl told SiriusXM's Alt Nation about the "Medicine At Midnight" musical approach: "It's our 10th album, and it's our 25th anniversary. We're. like, okay, let's look back at all the stuff that we've done before. We've made that loud sort of noisy punk rock fast stuff. We've made the sleepy acoustic kind of gentle acoustic record stuff. We've done the three- or four-minute-long bubblegum rock and roll, pop, single thing before. And it was, like, well, what haven't we done? And we had never really made a groove-oriented sort of party record.

"It's hard to put the words 'dance' or 'funk' or 'disco' in the same sentence as the FOO FIGHTERS; it scares the shit out of me," Dave admitted. "But all of us grew up loving rock and roll records that you could like bounce around to, like THE CARS. Like, oh my God, we love THE CARS. Or David Bowie's 'Let's Dance'. Or POWER STATION. Or THE [ROLLING] STONES' 'Tattoo You' — things like that. We're, like, 'All right. We've never really explored that territory before. Let's do it.

"We're lucky in that everybody in the band has diverse influences and everybody loves different kinds of music, but I honestly think we're capable of doing almost anything," he said. "So if we put our minds to it, we can kind of chameleon and turn into a death metal band, or we could be like THE CARPENTERS. So we just have to come together and make the decision, like, 'All right, which way do we wanna go? Which way are we gonna turn the wheel?' And this time we did it to make this party reco

ICED EARTH guitarist Jake Dreyer has distanced himself from the band, saying he is now focused solely on his other group WITHERFALL.

Just hours after ICED EARTH singer Stu Block and bassist Luke Appleton announced their departures from the band, TMZ reached out to Dreyer to get an update on his status with the group.

Jake, whose Instagram profile no longer lists him as ICED EARTH's lead guitarist, told the web site that he was hired to play with the band from 2016 to 2018 but now he's focused solely on playing with WITHERFALL. Jake said that he enjoyed his time with ICED EARTH, but "it's unfortunate how this tragedy unfolded," referring to the fact that ICED EARTH guitarist and leader Jon Schaffer was arrested for his role in last month's riot at the U.S. Capitol. The 52-year-old musician, who resides in in Edinburgh, Indiana, is facing six federal criminal charges after he was accused of spraying a police officer with a pepper-based bear repellant during the January 6 insurrection.

In his statement announcing his exit from ICED EARTH, the Canadian-born Block, who has fronted the band since 2011, said that his leaving the group was "the best decision in many ways for my personal/ professional growth going forward. Time to move on, heal and prosper."

The British-born Appleton, who joined ICED EARTH in 2012 and played on the "Plagues Of Babylon" and "Incorruptible" albums, issued a separate statement saying that he was leaving the band "in response to recent events & circumstances."

Schaffer waived his preliminary hearing as well as his rights to an identity hearing and production of a warrant in late January in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, court documents state. He will soon be transported by a United States marshal to Washington, D.C. where government lawyers and Schaffer's legal team have mutually agreed to handle all proceedings.

Schaffer is entitled to a hearing on the issue of pretrial detention upon his arrival in D.C., court documents said.

Last month, government lawyers asked the judge to not offer Schaffer a bond when he goes in front of U.S. magistrate.

Schaffer must prove to the federal magistrate that he is not a threat to himself or the public before being released on bail. Others who have been charged for insurrection at the Capitol have been given bail but ordered to surrender their firearms, avoid contact with other alleged Capitol rioters and stay away from all state capitol buildings. Some other alleged rioters have been prohibited from using social media and participating in any political rallies.

Schaffer was photographed wearing an "Oath Keepers Lifetime Member" cap during the insurrection. The Oath Keepers describe themselves as an association of former law enforcement and military personnel dedicated to "support and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic." But the Anti-Defamation League describes it as "a large but loosely organized collection of right-wing anti-government extremists who are part of the militia movement, which believes that the federal government has been coopted by a shadowy conspiracy that is trying to strip American citizens of their rights."

Schaffer has been held in the Marion County Jail since surrendering to police on January 17. He made his first court appearance the following day.

Authorities say Schaffer was photographed and seen on surveillance video carrying a pepper-based bear repellant and arguing with Capitol Police officers inside the Capitol.

Just hours after the insurrection, ICED EARTH fans recognized Schaffer in a photo released by federal investigators in which he could be seen at the front of a mob, wearing black leather fingerless tactical gloves and pointing his finger while yelling at someone out of the frame.

Schaffer is believed to be one of at least 400 people who are being investigated by FBI officials over their roles in the insurrection.

More than 230 criminal cases have been filed so far. Charges include unauthorized access, theft, damage to government property and assault on law enforcement officers.

While Schaffer has not yet said anything publicly about his involvement in the riot, his ICED EARTH bandmates previously put out a statement on Instagram and Facebook opposing the insurrection.

"We absolutely DO NOT condone nor do we support riots or the acts of violence that the rioters were involved in on January 6th at the US Capitol building," they wrote. "We hope that all those involved that day are brought to justice to be investigated and answer for their actio

BUTCHER BABIES have released the official music video for their latest single, "Yorktown". The song, which features a guest solo from guitarist Andy James (FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH), was produced and co-written by Matt Good (FROM FIRST TO LAST). It is the third taste of the band's forthcoming EP, tentatively due later this year via an as-yet-undisclosed record label. Previously released tracks "Bottom Of A Bottle" and "Sleeping With The Enemy" are also available below.

BUTCHER BABIES singer Carla Harvey said: "What the hell is Yorktown, you ask? Well, it's our very own little Gotham, a world we've created wherein two vamps patrol the city at night while stalking each other like prey! The magic happens when our two anti-heroines form an alliance to defeat the seedy Yorktown underbelly.

"It's one of my favorite BUTCHER BABIES songs that we've written as of late; a true nod to our love for building characters and storytelling over heavy riffs. We scream, we sing…we save Yorktown from impending doom."

BUTCHER BABIES co-vocalist Heidi Shepherd said: "When writing the song 'Yorktown', it was fairly obvious as to what the video was going to look like. A superhero with nine lives! But this is BUTCHER BABIES, and what is better than one superhero? TWO SUPERHEROES! Offering a nod to female empowerment, when strong females unite, we can take over the world. Our two characters form a bond and promise to defend the residents of Yorktown together.

"From concept to edit, we had a hand in all aspects of our very own 'Gotham'. This video was filmed in Orem, UT at my parents' film studio, Shepherd Grip & Lighting, where the entire family joined forces to bring this idea to life. You can definitely say that this was a family affair. Both of my parents and all of my five siblings created the set design, lighting design, ran all the equipment, and took on many roles in front of and behind the camera. We were lucky to snag my brother-in-law, famed VFX artist Aaron Sorensen as our director.

"From the all of stunts to the performances, we are so excited to show the world the silly, comic side of BUTCHER BABIES. After all, we all have a little superhero in us waiting to break free!"

Asked in a recent interview with Syfy Wire's "Metal Crush" how BUTCHER BABIES' new material differs from 2017's "Lilith", Shepherd said: "It differs a lot. You still have the classic BUTCHER BABIES metal behind us, but I found myself wanting to sing more.

"When I first started BUTCHER BABIES, I was an angry young girl, and I had a lot to scream about. I'm a happy 35-year-old woman now, so I have a lot that I wanna sing about."

During a recent appearance on the "Hardcore Humanism With Dr. Mike" podcast, Shepherd and Harvey discussed their decision to part ways with their longtime record label. Century Media released the band's first three albums, including "Lilith", which reached No. 11 on the Billboard Independent Albums chart and No. 15 on the Hard Rock Albums chart.

"When we decided to exit our record label, it was a really hard decision," Heidi said. "We had the opportunity, and they were offering us money, to stay. And we didn't feel like it was going well, in a way. So, we just kind of, like, we dipped out. And ever since then, we've gone back and forth, like, kicking ourselves: Did we make the right decision? Did we not make the right decision? Like, how could we — we've always been signed, you know, and what kind of decision was that to not be signed? It felt almost, like, 'Shit, what did we do?' And I think that's where we were when we were writing the songs — like, why did we make this sort of decision? Well, now fast forward, as the songs are coming out. I don't feel as, like, 'Oh, crap.' I feel, like, okay, maybe we did make the right decision, because things are just fine. And it was a gamble. And having that gamble, I think, puts you in a really vulnerable state, by all means, and it was a huge decision. And in the end, I'm glad we made it. But I spent a couple of years really kicking myself about it. But the end result did turn out okay, and we've had it where the end result didn't turn out okay. We've had both."

Added Carla: "But that's okay, because the other special thing about our band — at least the three of us, the core members that have been together for so long — we're adaptable in all areas of our life, and that's a huge, huge thing to have on your side. And I've found that most people are not. If something changes in their life, it really sets them off, and they go off the deep end. But with us, we analyze the situation and really think about what we can do to put it back in our favor, and we're all committed to fixing it, even if it takes a while."

In July 2019, longtime BUTCHER BABIES bassist Jason Klein announced his departure from the band. He has since been replaced by Ricky Bonazza.

Black Lion Records is pleased to welcome Italian doom / death group Ghostheart Nebula. The band was formed by Nick Magister, Maurizio Caverzan and Bolthorn in the last months of 2017.

Ghostheart Nebula's debut EP, Reveries, was  released in 2018 and the process was split between Norway and Italy. It was recorded and mixed by Aron Corti at StreetRecstudio in Albese con Cassano (Como), mastered by Øystein G. Brun (Borknagar) at Crosound Studio in Bergen, Norway. Artwork by Gogo Melone (Aeonian Sorrow, Clouds).

Reveries was well received by webzines and reviewers, and it was chosen as independent production of the month by the Italian magazine Rock Hard. Three years later the band is now ready to take things further with their debut album, Ascension, spinning at 8 tracks of melancholic sorrowful epic doom / death in the vein of bands such as Doom :VS, Swallow The Sun, Draconian and Saturnus. The band will be releasing their debut in Autumn of 2021

Ghostheart Nebula comments: "We are deeply pleased to announce that Swedish label Black Lion Records will be handling the release of Ascension, our new full-length album, scheduled for October 2021. We have taken some time to find the right collaboration with a label and, when we started talking about this possibility with Black Lion, it has been really easy for us to accept. Ascension represents an important milestone for us, both as it' s our first full length album and as it was born as a whole band, with everyone of us giving all his heart in it. The new songs come as an explosion of all the stylistic and emotive nuances breathing yet in Reveries and Apathetic Lacrymae, and we simply can' t wait to share them with everyone. Looking forward to start this new path together!"

Black Lion Records CEO Oliver Dahlbäck: "When I first received the promo from Ghostheart Nebula, I was instantly impressed by the band's professional style and well made press kit. Upon hearing the first tracks I was convinced that this was indeed the sound that had been truly missed the last years and so it felt very right to bring that back. Ghostheart Nebula delivers well made and slow but heavy melodic death doom in the vein of the traditional style, no side ways or  mixed styles. from first to last note their new album will surely please just about any fan of Draconian,Swallow The Sun."

Go to the Ghostheart Nebula Facebook page here. The band's official Bandcamp page can be found here.